To foster quality education, simply means that the required ingredients must be made available. The trio of qualitative and functional education simply describes the three important elements that guarantee qualitative and functional education at all levels of education.
Quality Teachers: To be a prosperous nation is to have comfortable and prosperous teachers whose hearts are melodiously doing the work of nation-building.
i. No teacher, no education.
ii. No quality teacher, no quality and functional education.
iii. ‘Teachers are curators of our yesterdays and the architects of tomorrow’s…’ (Akande, 1989)
iv. Teachers do not only impart knowledge but also create and generate new knowledge. (Mahuta, 2010).
v. Teachers are kings and queens; they are a boon to society; so they deserve the utmost respect and honour from society.
According to Fasasi, (2006), teachers of high quality could impart the right skills, knowledge and attitude. If an empty teacher stands in our nursery/primary and secondary schools, then we get empty pupils.
Instructional Materials: Instructional materials encompass quality textbooks, availability of teaching aids, and availability of quality and well-equipped laboratories and libraries, availability of computers for students’ practice, availability of well-researched and high-quality textbooks. Quoting Adegoke, (2003); Fasasi (2006) says in curriculum planning and implementation: “attention is expected to be paid to the four pillars of learning which were advocated in the Delor’s report to UNESCO which according to Oyebisi (2008: 11-14) were referred to as four skills. These are Learning to Know, Learning to Do, Learning to be and Learning to live together. Fasasi (2006) further opines that when these aspects are adequately considered in the curriculum, the educational system will be functional and its recipient will be self-reliant.
The National Policy on Education
Besides, the National Policy on Education (2004) stipulates that the quality of instruction at all levels has to be oriented towards inculcating the following values:
- Respect for the worth and dignity of the individual;
- Faith in man’s ability to make rational decisions;
- A moral and spiritual principle in inter-personal and human relations;
- Shared responsibility for the common good of society;
- Promotion of the physical, emotional and psychological development of all children; and acquisition of competencies necessary for self-reliance.
Serene Environment: The environment encompasses the physical environment which includes; physical building, fencing of the building, cross ventilation, sports facilities, security awareness, toilet, clinic, water, etc it also includes the intellectual environment and not a place of doing one personal business. An environment where quality teachers exist with adequate and relevant knowledge, skills, attitudes, competence and care for the learners. The spiritual environment is where the students have time to learn about the Almighty God and pray to God. “We know that faith is more powerful than government, and NOTHING is more powerful than God”-Donald J. Trump
The importance of a good and serene environment for learning cannot be over-emphasized. This was why Comenius (1592-1670) said that a school should be a place of joy rather than a place of tedium. To this end, he believed that the schoolroom and its environments should be pleasant; there should be several good pictures and other learning aids available to the learners. These should make the learning environment very conducive for the teacher-learning exercise.
